BURIN PENINSULA, N.L. — Though they are now scattered across the province, three women who met on the Burin Peninsula nearly 20 years ago have teamed up to write a book about spiritual development.

Florence Strang, formerly from Lewin’s Cove, Natalie Finlay, originally from Rushoon, and Veronica Conners, a former resident of Marystown, met while they were all working at the Burin Peninsula School Board office and found they held common interests.

“Soul Steps: 52 Ways to Reconnect with Spirit” was published by St. John’s-based DRC Publishing. - Contributed

That fateful meeting has led to the creation of “Soul Steps: 52 Ways to Reconnect with Spirit.”

Strang said the trio began discussing the idea of a book about 10 years ago, but “life happened.”

Over that time there were family deaths, Conners’ daughter was diagnosed with leukemia, Strang herself battled cancer and she also found out her son was autistic.

“A lot of things kind of slowed down the process, but in the end a lot of those stories wound up in the book, and that’s what it’s all about, about our struggles and how we grow and develop from our struggles,” Strang told The Southern Gazette Aug. 1.

Strang said the book is more about the reader than the authors, though, and how people can uncover what the trio calls “soul lessons” in their lives.

Soul lessons are life lessons, more or less, she said, giving one from her own as an example.

When her son was diagnosed with autism, Strang said she was upset, angry and bitter.

“I sort of prayed for him to overcome it. I didn’t want him to live his life with autism,” she said. “The only way I found peace is when I came to acceptance of it, and realized I didn’t have to fix him or make him better, that I accepted him as he is.”

Anybody can find peace through acceptance, said Strang.

There are 52 chapters in “Soul Steps,” one for each week of the year. The intent is for people to read a chapter and then put that skill or step into practice for the week, Strang said.

Published by St. John’s-based DRC Publishing, the book was not easy to put together, said Strang, who now lives in St. John’s. Finlay is living in Grand Falls-Windsor and Conners lives in Corner Brook. It involved a lot of emailing back and forth.

An official launch for “Soul Steps” will be held at St. Pat’s Church in Woody Point on Aug. 16. The evening will feature music by local musicians as well as readings by all three authors.

The book is already off to a hot start at Amazon.ca, where it was an instant best seller in the self-help category.

“I have had other books published and one of them actually made it to the Amazon best-sellers list, but it took about a year,” Strang said.

“We just kind of put it out there on Facebook, and it’s been getting a lot of attention, a lot of shares and a lot of buzz around it. So, I guess a lot of people went on Amazon right away to purchase the book and put our ratings way up there.”